Creating Comfortable Climatic Cities - RDM Campus

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56 Creating Comfortable Climatic Cities57Creating Comfortable Climatic Cities06 Living Lab ApproachBased on the idea that concrete demonstration projects that include all complexaspects of sustainable design can effectively accelerate change, the RDM Campusdesignated Heijplaat as a Living Lab in 2004. The RDM Living Lab is a user-centred,open-innovation ecosystem. The Golden Triangle of research, education and themarket are brought together in innovation teams that integrate innovation processeswithin public-private-people partnerships. The concept is based on a user co-creationapproach, allowing stakeholder involvement in the assessment of both the globalperformance of a product or service and its potential adoption by users. The LivingLab concept is supported by the local authorities, which have embraced the ideaof a real-life space for designing, exploring, experiencing and refining sustainablesolutions. The Living Lab not only functions as a pressure cooker for acceleratingchange, but the social, ecological and economic strategies that emerge can alsoinfluence local decision making and ultimately policies for the sustainable transitionof Rotterdam as a resilient delta city.Concept House VillageNumerous technical solutions have been developed in the last twenty years. Theeffectiveness of these concepts depends on how they are implemented in the buildingprocess and how future residents use them. Unlike most other products, such assmart phones and computers, the most expensive product we ever use – our home –is rarely tested before it is launched on the market.The purpose of Concept House Village is to test sustainable living concepts in variouskinds of prototype housing. Concept House Village will develop and test manyinnovative models for the Dutch housing market and dismantle them after a fewyears to simulate the entire life cycle of the building. This will be an internationalshowcase of building research and innovation and a prime example of sustainabledistrict development.The construction of prototype housing is a collaborative effort by companies,research institutes, public institutions and (collective) private contractors. All theseparties are involved in innovation in the built environment in both new housing andexisting urban developments.Concept House Village is expected to develop into a building and knowledgecommunity within a period of four to eight years. The intended result is ten to twentyprototypes of sustainable living in the New Village on Heijplaat (see Image 14). Situatedon sites made suitable for experimental housing, and given the status of a ‘freezone’, these prototypes can, if desired, be connected to the municipal infrastructureand utilities. Working together, construction companies and students will have thechance to design, build and test their prototypes as well as use them for technical andbehavioural research. Once the design and build phases are complete, visitors will beallowed in to see the prototypes in action.
58 Creating Comfortable Climatic Cities59Creating Comfortable Climatic CitiesThe houses will be showcases for the latest technological applications in sustainableenergy, water, sanitation and intelligent homes (home automation) on both buildingand district levels. In addition, Concept House Village will facilitate the developmentand testing of innovations in public spaces and the surrounding infrastructure.Practical tests will take place while students and Heijplaat villagers are living inthe houses.Practical researchConcept House Village offers research opportunities for:1) Innovations in the built environment: innovative prototype housing, constructionelements, techniques and sustainable materials, new applications for publicspace, process innovation and forms of collaboration;2) Sustainable behaviour in the built environment;3) The effect of the building process on current and future users (residents), clientsand other stakeholders.Image 14.Concept House Village, Rotterdam Heijplaat [Rutger Wirtz, 2009]Most retrofit projects in the Netherlands focus on reducing energy demand throughinsulation and making the installations more efficient. Heating, and in some casescooling, is always achieved mechanically. Biobased Retrofit explores the potentialsfor reducing the energy demand by adapting the form and interior configuration ofthe building in relation to the microclimate, thereby optimising the use of passivesystems and minimising the dependency on heavy installations. Energy performance,resource efficiency, comfort, interior quality, logistics, upscalability, costs and user cocreationwill be the drivers of the research and design. The effects of climate changewill be taken into account, resulting in a retrofit strategy that will be able to deal withincreased cooling demands in the future.The design and research will focus on adapting the envelope and interior of thebuilding. The use of interstitial (climate) zones and the reconfiguration and dynamictemporal use of the interior as strategies will be explored in relation to environmentalperformance, comfort and user experience. The smart positioning and designof openings and (active) shading devices in relation to the movement of the sun,prevailing winds, vegetation, water and views will be parametrically brought intoalignment with performance and comfort aspects such as energy and materialperformance, thermal, hygrothermal, visual and acoustic comfort.Figure 17.Biobased Retrofit [Doepel Strijkers, 2012]Two prototype housesBiobased RetrofitThe Biobased Retrofit pilot explores the potentials of bioclimatic passive principles incombination with smart innovations for affordable energy neutral renovation of theexisting housing stock (see Figure 17). In collaboration with Woonbron, Hunter Douglas,Pantanova, Studio Bouwhaven, ICDUBO, DGMR and Doepel Strijkers, the RotterdamAcademy of Architecture and the research chair for Sustainable Architecture andUrban (Re)Design will explore the possibilities for retrofitting six social rented housesin Concept House Village.The potentials of biobased materials will be explored along with their environmentalimpacts and effect on interior comfort. The use of biobased materials in retrofittinghas not yet taken off in the Netherlands. Many people have negative ‘eco’ associationswith biobased materials due to their natural ‘ecological’ appearance. As this may bean obstacle to the large-scale application of renewable materials, it is imperative thatinnovative examples that demonstrate the diverse possibilities of these materials aredeveloped. Besides the energy reductions that can be achieved through smart (re)design of the envelope, integrated energy production on location will also form part
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